Anita
So, sex without a condom meant a very messy cleanup and a wet spot on the bed. Good to know.
“Shower with me?” Bram asked as he pulled me up off his bed.
“What happened to postcoital cuddling?” I asked when he didn’t wait for my answer and tugged me into the bathroom. “Is that not a thing anymore?”
“It’s a thing,” he answered as he turned on the shower. “But I have a beard.”
I tilted my head to the side as I waited for him to continue, but that was all he said.
“And?” I finally asked as we climbed into the shower.
“And it smells like your pussy,” he said, his lips pulling up in a satisfied grin. “I like it.”
“Then why are you washing it off?” I asked, stepping into the spray nonchalantly like my cheeks weren’t on fire.
“Because I have to help Trev up at his place in the morning and I don’t want him smelling you,” he replied simply.
“Pretty sure he wouldn’t know it was me.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
I nodded as he stuck his head under the water and then grabbed his shampoo and started lathering his hair and beard.
“Shit, I forgot to take the rubber band out and now my fingers are too fucking slick,” he sputtered through soapy lips. “Can you get it?”
He turned away from me, and I took a second to take in his long, lean back. It was muscular without being too much. Perfect really, and that wasn’t a term I’d ever thought I’d associate with Abraham Evans. I reached up and slid my fingers through the knotted hair at the back of his head, gripping the ponytail there and pulling the band out as gently as I could. His hair wasn’t super long or anything, but it was longer than mine. He wore it in a knot at the back of his head most of the time, and I’d barely ever seen it down. The guys we worked with gave him so much shit for it that I didn’t know why he kept it long, but he just took their jokes and laughed it off.
“Why do you keep it so long?” I asked as I set the rubber band on the ledge of the tub.
“Just do, I guess. Don’t have to get it cut as often.” He dipped his head under the spray and began rinsing.
“And people don’t confuse you with Alex anymore.”
“They didn’t really confuse us before,” he said with a shrug, grabbing some body wash as he pushed me back under the spray.
“No?”
“Nah, not really.”
“Do you miss him?” I asked as he poured the soap into my hands.
“Every day. He likes what he’s doing though.”
“You think he’ll ever come back home for good?”
“Not until after he retires,” Bram replied with a shake of his head.
“Shit, that’s like ten years away.”
“A little less than eight,” he argued.
“Counting the days, huh?”
“Hell yeah.”
We were quiet for a few minutes, each cleaning up and rinsing off until the water finally ran clear around us.
“Spend the night?” he finally asked, reaching out to slide his hands up my torso as he met my eyes.
“Don’t you have to help Trev?”
“I’ll drop you off at your car on my way,” he said easily, leaning in to run his tongue up my neck.
“What are we doing here?” I asked, tilting my head to give him better access.
Bram completely froze with his face still close to my neck. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“You and me. What is this?”
“What are you getting at?” Bram said darkly as he jerked his hands away from my hips.
“Oh, Jesus Christ,” I snapped, immediately irritated. I shoved hard at his belly. “Get off of me.”
“What the fuck is your deal?” he shouted as I scrambled out of the bathtub, grabbing a towel off the rack. I didn’t think it was clean, but at that point, I didn’t really care, either.
“Is this a onetime thing?” I asked, throwing open the bathroom door and shivering as I let the cold air in. “Back to normal tomorrow?”
“I fucking doubt it!”
“Well then, what the fuck are we doing?” I asked in irritation as he grabbed a towel under the sink and began rubbing it over his face and hair. “Is this a secret?”
“You really want everyone to know that we’re fucking?”
“Is that all this is?”
“What the hell do you want me to say?” he bellowed, pulling the towel from his face. “Just tell me. I’m not dealing with your high school drama bullshit. You have something to say—then just fucking say it!”
I took a deep breath and shook my head. “Fuck you. How about that? That work for you?”
“Christ, Anita.”
I turned and made my way into the bedroom, picking up my tank top and underwear on the floor by the bed and quickly pulling them on. I was still fucking freezing, and I wished I had worn more clothes. My jeans were all the way downstairs in the truck. Shit.
“Is there a reason you’re acting like a crazy bitch right now?”
“Nope, no reason.”
“Ani—” I lifted my hand to cut him off. I just wanted to go home and crawl into my own bed. I hated that we were fighting about our relationship status. What a joke. I wasn’t trying to tie him down. Hell, half the time I didn’t even like Bram. I was just curious what the parameters of this little attraction were. We’d just had sex without a condom. Did that mean we were exclusive? Were we going to be super careful to keep things quiet, or was it not a big deal that we were sort of seeing each other?
“I like hanging out with you, and I want to fuck you,” he finally said quietly as he pulled on a pair of boxer briefs. “Probably not what you want to hear, but that’s what I’ve got.”
“You couldn’t have said that before, instead of completely freezing up and acting like a pussy?” I yelled back, crossing my arms over my chest. God, I was freezing, and my wet hair was dripping down my back.
“I’m the one acting like a pussy?”
“I just wanted to know what we were doing! I wasn’t angling for a fucking marriage proposal.”
“Good,” he replied flatly, bracing his hands on his hips. “That’s never going to happen.”
I didn’t want to marry Abraham. Not even a little bit. But the way he said those words, so matter-of-fact and emotionless, felt like a punch to the gut.
“Right,” I murmured, looking away from him.
“I’m not marrying anyone. Ever,” he said, his voice softer than it was before.
“Not my business,” I said cheerfully, pulling myself back together as quickly as I could. I liked fighting with Bram. I actually enjoyed pissing him off. But our conversation was hitting topics a little too serious for my taste, and I just wanted it to be over.
“Shit, you’re freezing. Come here,” he called, grabbing a shirt from his dresser.
“I’m fine,” I replied, taking a few steps forward.
“Here, put this on.” He started to pull one of his flannel shirts over my shoulders, then stopped and cursed. “You’re soaking wet.”
I stood there motionless as he pulled my tank top back over my head and used the towel hanging over his shoulder to dry my hair and back. When he was finished, he put the flannel back on me, his hands sweet and gentle as he pushed my arms into the sleeves and buttoned two buttons on the front of the shirt.
“Better?” he asked, tossing the towel toward the bathroom door.
I nodded.
I was afraid, if I spoke, that my voice would come out weird. He was so fucking confusing. He could make me feel like complete shit in one minute, then take care of me like I was a baby the next. He didn’t want me for more than sex, but was concerned when I was feeling chilly.
“Stay the night?” he asked, cupping my face and lifting it toward his.
“Fine,” I grumbled, making him laugh.
He pulled me back into bed, avoiding the wet spot as he pulled my underwear back down my legs. I expected him to pull the flannel off, too, but as soon as he’d thrown my underwear off the edge of the bed, he was rolling me to my side and crowding in behind me.
Spooning. He was spooning me.
Then his hand slid down my hip, pushing his flannel out of the way so he could press his fingers between my legs. I whimpered when his fingers moved over my clit and tried to widen my legs, but one of his legs moved to trap mine together.
“No, don’t move,” he said quietly, his mouth near my ear. “You’re tired, I’m tired.”
His fingers played while I lay there stuck, and after a few seconds, one slipped inside me, making my hips jerk. He pulled out slowly then pushed in again, before his hand completely stopped moving.
“Sleep,” he murmured, using the hand curled up near his head to press my hair away from my face.
“I can’t sleep with you inside me,” I argued, tightening the muscles around his finger.
“Sure you can.”
“No, I really can’t.”
“Then I guess you won’t sleep,” he said teasingly, gently squeezing his hand cupping my pussy. “Just relax, baby.”
He called me baby. It shouldn’t have mattered, but it did.
I closed my eyes and tried to relax but it wasn’t happening. I was getting wetter by the second, and it took everything I had not to move my hips against his hand. I breathed deep, clenching my hands in front of me as Bram’s body grew heavier behind me.
When I realized he was falling asleep, I made myself ignore the finger still inside me. If I could wait just a few minutes without moving, I could crawl away once he was finally passed out. Finally, when his breathing grew deep and even, I braced myself to move.
And that’s when his finger began thrusting again. In and out.
Then another finger. He curled them forward as he jerked his hand up, and my back arched involuntarily, a small sound bursting out of my throat.
“You fucking sneak,” I breathed as he did it again.
I felt a light kiss on my ear as Bram pulled his fingers from me, then he was sliding into me from behind in one long push.
“You really thought I could leave my fingers in you and sleep?” he asked in amusement, thrusting slowly. “While you were dripping down my hand?”
“Yes,” I hissed, reaching back to grip his hip. “And it was one finger.”
He chuckled and grabbed my hand at his hip, pushing it forward until he’d trapped it against the sheets in front of us. “Slow,” he murmured.
I could barely move, and as much as I wanted to fight him on it, I couldn’t deny that I really liked having him control the way our bodies moved together. He’d get me there if I was patient.
I gritted my teeth as he just barely sped up his thrusts.
“Better?” he asked.
“Not even a little bit,” I moaned, making him chuckle.
“How about now?” He thrust harder but didn’t speed up.
“No.”
“Now?” His hips moved faster, and my eyes drifted shut.
“No,” I said again stubbornly.
He pulled back and slammed in hard, our bodies inching across the bed.
“Yes,” I gasped without him even asking.
“Wanted some sleepy sex,” he groaned into my ear, his hand leaving mine on the bed so he could slide it underneath the flannel shirt and pinch one of my nipples between his fingers. “But I’ll take this.”
His hand moved south and I cried out as two of his fingers slid around my clit, barely pinching it as he slid them back and forth with his thrusts.
“Shit,” I moaned as I came, shuddering as my muscles tightened against his hold.
“Oh fuck. Yeah, I’ll take this,” he groaned, thrusting again before his hips began to jerk against my ass.
His weight rested against me as we breathed heavily in the aftermath.
“Stay still,” he said quietly as he slid his hand from between my thighs.
He pulled his leg from the top of mine and moved backward, pulling out of me slowly. I heard him get off the bed behind me, then pause.
“That’s so fucking sexy,” he said, leaning forward to run his finger over my pussy from behind. I shuddered against the movement, and he groaned. “Every time you tighten up, my cum drips out. Jesus. I think I’m having a heart attack.”
I snickered as he kissed my ass cheek and then stepped away from the bed and moved into the bathroom. When he came back out, he was carrying a wet washcloth, and without any warning, he leaned over me and cupped it between my legs.
“Roll over,” he ordered, cleaning me up as I followed his instructions.
“Thanks,” I mumbled quietly when he pulled the washcloth away.
“No problem. You ready for bed?”
He walked back into the bathroom, and I could hear the sink running for a minute before he came back empty-handed.
“Actually, I’m wide awake now,” I answered brightly, sitting up cross-legged. “And hungry.”
“I’m going to be worthless tomorrow,” Bram complained, looking at the alarm clock on his nightstand. “Come on, I’ll feed you.”
He pulled me up from the bed and dragged me downstairs, lifting me up to sit on the counter when we got to the kitchen.
“Ooh, ice cream,” I ordered when he opened up the freezer door. “That’s what I want.”
He handed me the carton and a spoon, then leaned against the counter across from me, watching as I dove in.
“You want some?” I asked around the spoon as I shoveled a bite into my mouth.
“No.” He smiled.
“Fine. But it’s really good.”
“I know. It’s mine,” he said drily.
“So what are you and Trev doing tomorrow?”
“I’m really sorry about tonight,” he said at the same time.
“Huh?” I asked in confusion.
“All that shit at dinner,” he clarified, running his hand over his beard.
“Not your fault,” I said quickly, shaking my head.
“Yeah, it was.”
“Just drop it.”
“He shouldn’t have yelled at you like that,” Bram pressed. “If I would have known—”
“Abraham, drop it,” I said again, grabbing the lid to the ice cream and shoving it back on.
“I’m trying to fucking apologize!” he barked, pulling the ice cream out of my hands and throwing it back in the freezer.
“Fine, you’re forgiven,” I shot out, tossing the spoon into the sink.
“Sometimes I wonder how the fuck I’ve dealt with you for the last fifteen years,” he growled, glaring at me. It was closer to fourteen, but who was counting?
I looked him over, my eyes catching at the long, wild hair barely resting at his shoulders, the brown eyes that were almost black, and the arrow-straight nose with the small bump on the bridge. God, he was attractive. Even more so when he was scowling.
“Because I’m cute,” I finally chirped back, smiling wide as I tilted my head to the side, “and because instinctively you knew that I could suck dick like a Hoover.”
Bram’s face continued to scowl for as long as he could hold it, then suddenly he burst out laughing. My smile grew impossibly wider.
“Really?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.
“Only one way to find out.”
I shrieked as he came at me, slinging me over his shoulder as he practically ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
* * *
“You go. I’m sleeping,” I grumbled as Bram tried again to shake me awake.
“Oh, hell no. You kept me up all fucking night, and I’m the one who has to help Trev put up new gutters all fucking day,” he growled, shoving his hands into my armpits so he could force me to sit up. “Get dressed. We gotta go.”
“You loved it,” I said as I threw my legs over the bed. “I rocked your world.”
“Yeah, you’re the best I’ve ever had. Now get the fuck up. I was supposed to be at Trev’s twenty minutes ago.” He sat next to me on the bed and started pulling his socks and boots on.
“Really, the best?” I sang, clasping my hands together under my chin as I tiredly batted my eyelashes at him.
“You’re such a fucking pain in the ass,” he laughed, shaking his head.
He pulled me out of the room and down the stairs, and I was kind of disappointed that he’d already been up for a while by the time he’d woken me up. I wanted to see sleepy, stumbly Bram again. That Bram was my favorite.
“Ah, there they are,” I said to myself as Bram opened up the door to the garage and I saw my flip-flops discarded carelessly on the cement step right outside.
We climbed in the truck, and I shimmied into my jeans as he pulled out onto the highway.
“I left my tank top and my underoos at your house,” I said as we got closer to Dan and Liz’s house to pick up my car.
“You can just grab ’em the next time you’re over,” he said easily, turning down the long gravel driveway.
“Ooh, I get another ride?” I said sweetly, turning my head to look at him. “When?” I clapped my hands in front of my chest.
“When I call you.”
“You’re so dominant,” I murmured breathlessly. “Are you going to spank me if I call first?”
“I fucked you all night, and you’re still busting my balls?” he asked incredulously, coming to a stop next to my Toyota.
“It’s cute that you thought anything would change,” I mocked, reaching out to tap his cheek with my fingers, then pulling away quickly as he snapped his teeth at me.
“Thanks for the ride!” I sang as I climbed out of the truck.
“Which one?” he asked as I slammed the door closed behind me.
I jogged around to the driver’s seat of my car as Bram turned the truck around, and just as I’d started up the car, Dan opened up the front door of the house and took a step outside.
I pretended I didn’t hear him call my name as I quickly backed up and turned around. I didn’t want to deal with that shit yet. Not yet. Not until I could look him in the eye without feeling like a bug under the microscope.
And not until I was dressed in my own clothes and not braless and commando under one of Bram’s favorite flannels.
Bram. I sighed and smiled as I pulled out onto the road, and for a few minutes, I was almost giddy at the tenderness between my legs. Then, without warning, I thought about the night before, and my smile turned to a scowl. I pulled over to the side of the road and pulled out my phone to text him.
If we’re having sex without a condom, you’re not fucking anyone else.
I wanted to write a long-winded text about how I didn’t care if he wanted to see other people but I wasn’t going to take the chance of him giving me some STD, but I didn’t want to give the impression that I was protesting too much. Even though the thought of Bram with anyone else made my stomach churn. I stared at my phone for a full five minutes, periodically glancing at the empty road ahead and behind me, then finally saw that he was typing a response. I braced.
You aren’t either.
Well.
My lips curled up as I pulled back onto the road.
* * *
“Hey, asshole!” I yelled, answering my phone the next day. I was covered in paint and sweaty as all hell, but I’d finally gotten all the trim painted in my living room, and it looked magnificent.
Good word. Magnificent.
“How’s it going, Anita Bonita?” Henry’s voice came through the speaker as I set my phone down on a stool and started stripping off my paint-splattered clothes.
“It’s going. Just working on the house today. What about you? Anything new?”
“Nah, not much. Same shit, different day. I’m doing some training in a couple months though—that should be pretty badass.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, rolling the clothes into a ball and stuffing them into a garbage bag. They weren’t even worth keeping.
“Yeah. I’m thinking about heading up with Shane and Katie when they come up in two weeks. I’ve got the leave—I just need to get it approved.”
“Sweet!” I yelled, doing a little dance.
I loved it when everyone came to visit. We were all so spread out that it didn’t happen often. The last time we’d all been together was Katie’s thirtieth birthday party in San Diego almost a year before. This time, the only person missing would be Alex.
“Can I stay with you? I think Katie and Shane are staying at Aunt Liz and Uncle Mike’s, but I don’t want to stay with the ’rents.”
“You’re not bringing skanks to my house,” I warned.
Henry started laughing. “Wouldn’t dream of it as long as you don’t give me shit for not coming home like my parents or Trev would.”
“I can honestly say that I don’t give two flying fucks where you sleep at night, Henry dear.”
“Perfect.”
I smiled at the relief in his voice. Oh, to be young, gorgeous, and single…wait. I was young, gorgeous—sort of—and single. I didn’t feel that way though. I felt like I was forty-five.
“So Mom said you had surgery?” Henry asked, then paused. “Oh shit. I wasn’t supposed to know, was I?”
“Christ, no, it’s fine. I had to have a hysterectomy. It’s all healed up, the end.” I walked toward my bedroom.
“Wait, why? So you can’t have kids, right?” Henry went silent again. “Motherfuck, Ani. That was a shitty thing to say.”
“You’re fine.” I smiled sadly, sitting completely naked at the end of my bed. “No, I can’t have kids. It is what it is though. No worries.”
“Well, I’ve completely fucked up this entire conversation,” Henry groaned. “When I stay at your house, you can shave one of my eyebrows off when I’m sleeping. Fair?”
“I was going to do that anyway,” I said, wiping at my wet eyes. “It’s the only reason I said you could stay.”
“Me and you, Anita Bonita. We’re going to party like its nineteen ninety-nine.”
“Do you even remember nineteen ninety-nine?” I snorted, sliding beneath the covers on my bed.
“Yes.” Pause. “A little.” Pause. “Oh, shut the fuck up.”
I started laughing while Henry grumbled.
“Let me know what day you’ll be here and I’ll make sure to get you a key,” I said after I’d stopped laughing.
“Sounds good.”
“I’m really glad you’re coming up, dude. I miss you like crazy.”
“Yeah me too. Should be fun to have the kids all together again.”
“Except for Alex,” I said, suddenly really missing my best friend.
“That’s what he gets for joining the Army. Pussy.”
“Don’t be a dick,” I ordered, smiling.
“Hey, you’re not going to be bringing home guys from the bar either, right? I really don’t want to hear that shit.”
My mouth pulled up in a devious grin, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. “What shit?” I asked innocently.
“Uh, you know.” Henry cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Moans and shit.”
“Oh!” I nodded my head even though he couldn’t see me. “Like, oh God, stranger from the bar, your dick is so huge. Oh, please, stick it in, stick it in!” I made my voice as breathy as I could and finished off the sentence with a high-pitched moan.
“You. Are. A. Dick,” Henry commented when I was done, every word enunciated like it was its own sentence.
“You’re welcome.”
“That’s how you sound when you have sex?” he asked seriously. “I thought it would be hotter.”
“Fuck you!” I laughed.
“I’ll call you in a couple days and let you know when I get in.”
“Get in,” I snickered, making him chuckle, too.
“Bye, Bonita Anita.”
“Bye, asshole.”
I dropped the phone on the bed and snuggled farther underneath the blankets. It was nice to hear from Henry. He’d been such a cute kid when I met him. Fourteen and skinny as a rail, he’d been the only one in either of the families that was anywhere close to my size. He’d bulked up as he’d gotten older, but he was still pretty small compared to his brothers and cousins. He’d hit on me back then, so sure that he was smooth.
I’d shot him down faster than the words could come out of his mouth.
The little cutie-pie. I’d wanted to just reach out and pinch his cheeks, but I was pretty sure, if I’d done that, he would have died from mortification on the spot.
I sighed. I needed to go get him a key for the house—or maybe I’d just see if he could borrow Bram’s, even though I was pretty sure Bram would say no. Take away his key and give it to absentminded Henry? No way in hell.
I hadn’t seen Bram since he’d dropped me off the morning before, but I wasn’t really concerned about it. I’d been busy napping and then working on my living room long into the night, before crashing and waking up early again to finish it up. Now that the walls were completely done, I needed to refinish the floor in there, and just the thought of it made me groan. I was so freaking tired.
I closed my eyes and relaxed into the bed. It was Sunday—I could nap if I wanted to.
* * *
“You waiting on me, gorgeous?” a soft voice whispered into my ear a few hours later, making me smile. Bram.
“I’m pretty sure the front door was locked,” I replied drowsily, opening my eyes as Bram’s body slid in behind me. His hand smoothed up my hip and around my belly as his body curled into mine.
“I have a key,” he whispered in my ear, his fingers running lightly up my ribs and over my breast.
“I was really too trusting when I handed those out.”
“Why you sleeping in the middle of the day?” he asked, ignoring my comment as his lips met my bare shoulder.
“Because I was tired?”
“Living room looks good. You got a lot done.”
“Yeah, now I need to refinish the floors and finally put some furniture in there.” My voice grew husky as Bram’s fingers ran slowly down my torso and between my thighs.
“I’ll do the floors,” he argued gruffly, gripping my thigh to spread my legs wide, one resting over the top of his. “Look at you, wet already.”
“Look at you, hard already,” I teased back, pressing my ass against the very hard cock behind me.
“Shit, I was hard as soon as I saw you were naked,” he said with a small laugh, reaching down between my legs to position himself.
I moaned deep in my throat as he slid slowly inside me from behind. As soon as he was buried to the root, he pushed my leg back down so my thighs were pressed tightly together. Then I breathed deeply through my nose as he began rolling his hips in a smooth, slow rhythm.
“There’s the sleepy sex I wanted,” he murmured against the side of my neck. “Feel good?”
“I’ve had better,” I ground out as he ran a finger lightly around my nipple.
“No you haven’t,” he argued with a small chuckle.
I started to arch my back, and Bram’s hand was immediately at my belly, stopping the movement.
“No. Just relax,” he ordered.
“I don’t want to relax,” I replied, reaching up to clench his hair in my fingers.
“Shh. Close your eyes, Ani. Just let me get you there,” he said sweetly, running his fingers up and down my belly.
I wanted to flip over and ride him into oblivion. The emotions clogging my chest were becoming really uncomfortable. Instead, I took a shuddering breath and relaxed my hand, letting it slide down to wrap around the side of his neck.
He rewarded me by slipping a finger between my tightly pressed-together legs, running it over my clit.
When my orgasm hit, it rolled over me in small waves, and it went on for freaking ever.
* * *
“I talked to Henry earlier,” I said a while later, running my fingers through Bram’s hair as I rested on his chest.
“Oh, yeah? What’s he up to?” Bram asked, his arm wrapped around my shoulders and his fingers tickling my back softly.
“He said he’s coming up with Katie and Shane, and he wanted to know if he could stay here.” I snorted. “He doesn’t want to stay with Trev or his parents because he wants to whore it up.”
“What? Why didn’t he ask me?” Bram bitched, his fingers pausing on my back.
“I don’t know—maybe because you’re a dick and he doesn’t want you running off his conquests?” I laughed and pulled Bram’s hair lightly.
“I’m not a dick.”
“You’re such a dick.” I laughed again.
“So he’s gonna be bringing chicks here? That makes a lot of sense,” he grumbled.
“Aw. Are your little feewings hurt?” I teased, leaning up so our faces were close together. “Are you sad your best fwiend didn’t ask to stay with you?”
“I think my balls just shriveled up into my stomach when you started talking,” he replied, grimacing.
“And no—he won’t be bringing anyone here. He can fuck them at their houses,” I said with a scowl. “I don’t want that nasty at my house.”
“He does realize that you have no fucking furniture, right?”
“Looks like we need to do the floors tomorrow so I can get a couch,” I mused.
“Shit,” Bram said under his breath. “I’ll rent a sander tomorrow after work.”
“I’ll go with you. I need to buy the finish stuff anyway,” I said, pulling away so I could climb off the bed.
I went to the kitchen and made some sandwiches, bringing them back into the room with a couple of sodas.
“Dinner is served,” I announced, meeting Bram’s eyes as he leaned back against my headboard.
“Stop,” he blurted, his gaze roaming up and down my nakedness. “I think I’m having an out-of-body experience.”
“Shut up.”
“You’re bringing me sandwiches. Naked. You might be the perfect woman.”
“These sandwiches are mine, fuckface. Feed yourself,” I replied as I climbed onto the bed.
“And the fantasy is gone,” he replied sadly, then grunted as one of the sodas hit him in the stomach.
“I am the fantasy,” I said as I got comfortable across from him, setting the plate full of sandwiches on the bed between us. “I’m bendy like an acrobat, cook like Julia fucking Child, and can do most home improvement shit myself. I’m the whole goddamn package.”
“Yeah,” Bram mumbled, grabbing a sandwich while he eyed me. “But you also know how to load and shoot a gun—that works against you.”
I snorted and grabbed a sandwich for myself. “What do you think the kids would say if they saw us together like this?” I asked, biting into my sandwich.
“Katie would scream and dance around the room. Shane would walk away without saying anything. Henry would stare at your tits. Trevor would close his eyes and start trying to discuss the situation, and Alex would fucking high-five me,” Bram said with no hesitation.
My mouth dropped open at his very accurate assessment. He was totally right. Katie would be excited as hell. Shane wouldn’t want anything to do with the mess. Levelheaded Trev would try to make sense of what he was seeing. Henry wouldn’t care except that he’d get to see me naked, and Alex would be stoked as hell that his two best friends were together.
“So you don’t think Shane would want a good look first?” I asked after a minute.
“Of course he would,” Bram said mockingly while shaking his head.
“He should be so lucky.”
“Amen,” Bram said, giving me a small smile. “So I’m thinking we’ll get the sander and shit tomorrow—then we can take Tuesday off and get the floors done.”
“I can’t take any more time off,” I answered, shaking my head. “I just took a whole week, not that long ago.”
“I’ve got shit on Monday, but Tuesday’s pretty clear. You’re fine. It’s one day.”
“I can’t, Bram,” I argued.
“Yeah you can.”
“No, really.”
“No, really, you can. I’ll tell Trev and the dads not to let you into the office on Tuesday.”
“I’ll junk-punch you.”
“No you won’t. You need me to help you with the floors.”